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Symantec Proxy vs Zscaler Internet Access comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.7
iboss improved bandwidth and security for remote work, but per-device fees and Mac agent delays prompted vendor alternatives.
Sentiment score
6.2
Users find Symantec Proxy beneficial for security but costly for small businesses, with mixed opinions on ROI.
Sentiment score
5.7
Zscaler Internet Access drives cost savings by reducing on-premises needs, enhancing security, and cutting hardware and staffing costs.
With iboss, whenever you turn on your laptop, the iboss agent automatically connects to the iboss cloud, enforcing all security policies. So with respect to the security side, it strengthens measures.
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I have seen some cost effectiveness from iboss; it has reduced certain support requirements, making it a more hands-off solution.
Managing Director
For supercritical businesses, there should be a return on investment due to the enhanced security features and resilience.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The managed service aspect of Zscaler Internet Access has allowed for reduced staffing costs, resulting in a saving of approximately 20-25% compared to prior expenses.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Iboss customer service receives mixed reviews, with praise for responsiveness and criticism for communication and resolution delays.
Sentiment score
4.9
Symantec Proxy support varies post-Broadcom, with mixed reviews on response time, expertise, and improvement efforts acknowledged by users.
Sentiment score
6.5
Zscaler Internet Access customer service is responsive and knowledgeable, with high ratings but occasional scheduling and resource issues.
They are very fast, responsive, and knowledgeable.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
The quality of the support is fantastic.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
We had promising discussions about resolving these issues, but no real action followed.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Support services are lagging and not very responsive.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The technical support for Zscaler Internet Access is rated around seven out of ten due to some response time issues and the engagement model.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access customer service is really very good.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I find customer support to be quite adequate
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Iboss exhibits reliable scalability with easy resource expansion, accommodating high demand smoothly while maintaining performance and flexibility.
Sentiment score
7.4
Symantec Proxy is generally scalable, with cloud setups preferred for ease, handling varying users well but needing model updates.
Sentiment score
7.2
Zscaler Internet Access offers scalable cloud solutions for easy expansion, with some challenges in cost, bandwidth, and deployment complexity.
They are also able to meet on-demand requirements based on your contract with them, and can easily provide adequate resources and scalability.
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
If I start seeing sluggishness or anything like that, I just reach out to my rep, and they connect with their dev team, typically resolving it the same day.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
With the pricing structure that they currently have, it is only for big customers.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I find Zscaler Internet Access to be highly scalable, which was one of the reasons for choosing it.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is scalable and has points of presence across the globe to ensure low latency and reliable connections.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
iboss is highly stable with 99% uptime, minor deployment challenges, and receives strong performance ratings of 7-9 out of 10.
Sentiment score
7.4
Symantec Proxy is stable and reliable, but some users report glitches, hardware issues, and occasional high latency.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zscaler Internet Access is globally stable and secure, with minor regional latency issues, and straightforward deployment praised by users.
It's been pretty solid; I've never had an outage with them, and if I ever had, it's only been once out of the seven years.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
We've experienced zero downtime.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device despite our ClearPass sending information to the iboss box.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Stability depends on the platform on which it is deployed and the number of users.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is stable and capable of building resilient architectures.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access is very stable, and I would rate its stability as nine out of ten.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

iboss struggles with Mac support, integration issues, performance limitations, and needs improvements in security features and user configurations.
Symantec Proxy struggles with SSL inspection, user interface, performance, and needs improvements in security features and AI capabilities.
Zscaler Internet Access needs improved integration, reporting, user interface, support, pricing, scalability, and feature enhancements for better overall performance.
It is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
We also had a problem with a transition when we upgraded from one appliance of theirs to another, but their engineer lost a good deal of our data.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc.
The product needs improvement in support services, as they are lagging and not very responsive when we raise concerns or queries, especially in terms of significant impact.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
AI features could potentially improve the proxy by helping build rules more efficiently, suggesting unused rules, and enhancing preference setting.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
The response time and engagement model for technical support could be improved to handle complex outages more efficiently.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
In future updates, I would like to see some of the features bundled into the existing product set, perhaps more AI features and a refreshed interface.
Cyber Security Architect at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Zscaler Internet Access has introduced AI control for tools such as ChatGPT, providing options to restrict to text-only input without file or image uploads through CASB restriction controls.
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
 

Setup Cost

Iboss offers competitive and transparent pricing, often cheaper than Broadcom and Check Point, despite annual cost increases.
Symantec Proxy is seen as costly, with complex renewals and significant financial commitment, prompting users to explore alternatives.
Zscaler Internet Access pricing is high, with a per-user model, making it cost-effective yet potentially inaccessible for small businesses.
It offers the same features you would get from a vendor that charges 250,000 British pounds for a fraction of the price.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
The following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern.
Managing Director
Pricing is difficult to specify as Broadcom sells platforms that include multiple products, making it hard to determine the exact cost for the proxy component.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Zscaler Internet Access is recognized as an expensive solution.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is less expensive than competitors like Palo Alto, offering a premium service justified by security enhancements and cost-effective scalability.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Of course, it is an expensive product.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

iboss provides advanced security features, seamless cloud management, and scalability with user-friendly integration and robust threat protection capabilities.
Symantec Proxy offers caching, URL filtering, policy creation, and advanced security features, highly regarded for ease, stability, and integration.
Zscaler Internet Access enhances security with URL filtering, SSL inspection, threat protection, and seamless remote management, improving efficiency globally.
The solution's mental health function can detect if someone needs help.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
It's given us a lot more visibility into our computer assets that may be infected with viruses and also shows us people who have unusually large uploads or might be engaging in high-risk activities, such as searches or going to sites not categorized by their web crawler.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
iboss was the best solution for us because, no matter what domain you were in, everything is under a single pane of glass, which is exactly what we wanted.
Managing Director
The most valuable features are content inspection, caching, SSL encryption, decryption, WAN optimization, and more.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The integration with FireGlass has been essential since both solutions are from Broadcom, enhancing compatibility.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
It prevents numerous web attacks through its AI/ML incorporated capability which identifies malware, threats, and viruses.
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted my organization by reducing the dependency on on-premises hardware and improving security posture, enabling faster user onboarding, and providing better performance for remote users.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
The most valuable feature for me is the ability to see how my network and traffic looks with modules like analytics and insights.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (8th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
Symantec Proxy
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
16th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zscaler Internet Access
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.3%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Proxy is 1.7%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Internet Access is 10.3%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zscaler Internet Access10.3%
iboss3.3%
Symantec Proxy1.7%
Other84.7%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.
Ganesh Basappa - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Granular control for web traffic with enhanced content inspection, but support needs improvement
There are many use cases in terms of content inspection, such as having granular control for file type extensions when trying to download file types by default. It depends on the requirements, and based on that, we customize policies. We have deployed it in an Azure infrastructure, and we have…
Mohan Janarthanan - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
User access management and threat prevention are enhanced with user-friendly controls
The best features Zscaler Internet Access offers include application control, tenant segregation, and PoP center regions which have low availability zones. The internet access is very successful and bandwidth speed is excellent. It also has application-based control, URL-based control, and SSL inspection capabilities, which are very useful. Additionally, the in-depth CASB segregation is very beneficial to us. One unique feature I found helpful is the tenant level restrictions, which we use to only access our organization's tenant level mail IDs, drives, and specific tenant level access while restricting public access. Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted our organization as we have noticed substantial outputs and income. It has improved our security environment control and endpoint protection. It prevents numerous web attacks through its AI/ML incorporated capability which identifies malware, threats, and viruses. It has a toggle button to enable features entirely at the tenant level for all users onboarded into Zscaler Internet Access, resulting in much better outcomes.
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893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise37
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Proxy?
Pricing is difficult to specify as Broadcom sells platforms that include multiple products, making it hard to determi...
What needs improvement with Symantec Proxy?
AI features could potentially improve the proxy by helping build rules more efficiently, suggesting unused rules, and...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Proxy?
I use Symantec Proxy for surfing the internet from internal to external networks. My endpoints do not have direct acc...
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?
Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zs...
Which is better, Zscaler internet access or Netsckope CASB?
We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Internet Access?
It is only for big companies currently and they only focus on that. That is one of the problems to get into the marke...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Blue Coat Encrypted Traffic Management, ProxySG Appliance
ZIA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
Jefferies
Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Symantec Proxy vs. Zscaler Internet Access and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.